Blog Post

Making your pop up more consistent and reliable starts with a solid foundation. Laying good foundations early is a key to your future progression.

Poping up requires one continuous explosive movement of balance and skill. As with any skill, it takes practice. The more you practice the more muscle memory you will build.

What does this mean? The more you practice at home, on the sand or in the water the movement pattern, force, and timing will be hard-wired into your brain.

If you are landlocked or you’re caught up in other commitment the good news is, practicing in the privacy of your home is an effective way to perfect you pop up. This with the right mechanics will smooth out the learning curve even just a little bit.

Pro tip:Taking off on smaller surfboards, such as shortboards and fishes, is commonly done with a different technique than the one used to stand up on bigger boards.

The main reason is that your feet do not touch the tail of the surfboard when you are lying down on your chest and paddling into a wave.

Therefore, you must bring your back foot up onto the surfboard’s tail, using the “chicken wing” technique.

So let’s break down each step in detail:

HOW TO POP UP INTERMEDIATE

Also known as chicken wing technique.

1.Paddle until you catch the wave. Only stop once the wave has completely collected you and your board. Ideally, you want to be gliding with the wave

√ Feel the momentum – Learn to feel the wave hitting the back of your board. Once you get better at this your timing will improve with your pop up

√ Your paddle needs to match the speed of the breaking wave (remember a shortboard is harder to paddle)

√ Paddle TWO extra stokes – A lot of surfers tend to stop paddling as soon as they feel the wave take them. This time without the extra glide from your bigger board you will always need TWO more paddle strokes

√ The distance between both your feet should be your shoulder’s width or slightly more

√ Your front foot shouldn’t have more than a 45-degree opening

√ Both your feet should be perfectly placed on the width of the board, with your feet arches over the stringer (the line in the middle of the board)

COMMON MISTAKES

X Placing your hands on the rails will create more drag and instability. Keep your hands on the deck towards your chest

X Don’t throw your feet at the same time. Even professionals place their back foot first followed by their front foot

X Don’t push up with your hands in front of you. Its impossible to pop up like this. Remember to push up near your pectorals

X Do not use your knees. Don’t be lazy and start to bring your knees up first rather than your feet. This is a really bad habit that takes years to get rid of. Never, ever start. When you progress in your surfing to bigger, steeper waves this technique will hold you back from making some of the takeoffs